Awareness and knowledge level of teachers on visual impairment among pupils At Dunkwa–On-Offin

Abstract

This study sought to determine the awareness and knowledge level of teachers on visual impairment (refractive errors) among pupils at Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Upper Denkyira East, Central Region of Ghana. The study used a quantitative method to enroll 70 teachers who were 20 years and above. The participants were sampled using a convenience sampling technique. Data was collected through the use of a structured questionnaire and checklist. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and presented in the form of tables and the use of the Mann-Whiteny U test and Kruskal Wallis test to establish an association between baseline socio-demographic characteristics (age and years of experience) and knowledge level. In total, 70 participants were included in the analysis. The majority of the respondents reported having received information on refractive errors with the majority of the respondents getting their information from mass media. The mean knowledge level of the respondents was 21.63±3.45 standard deviation. The majority of the respondents had good knowledge of refractive error. This was followed by 24.3% of the respondents whose knowledge was satisfactory. The percentage of respondents who had very good and poor knowledge regarding refractive error were 8.6% and 4.3% respectively. Also, there was no significant association between baseline factors like age and number of years of practice, and the knowledge level of primary school teachers. A recommendation was made for the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of education in charge of curriculum development to factor education on the identification of visual impairment as part of the courses to be learned in various training institutions.